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Approx. reading time: 4 minutesJanuary 18, 2019JAZZ ALBUM “MUST-HAVES”
Have you ever asked yourself the question: “What albums would I buy if I had to build-up my Jazz collection up from scratch?”
Well, the albums in this blog would be the “must-haves” for me. Some of them rank high on various Jazz charts you can find online. The albums listed in this blog are “listed” in random order. All these albums are worth buying. I will update this article from time to time …
NOTE: For more information about the albums, check Wikipedia or just Google!
ACOUSTIC JAZZ
Albums with what jazz-purists would call “real jazz”, with other words “mainstream”: Swing, Bebop, Hardbop …
CANNONBALL ADDERLEY & MILES DAVIS – SOMETHIN’ ELSE 
HANK MOBLEY – SOUL STATION 
JOHN COLTRANE – BLUE TRAIN 
HORACE SILVER – SONG FOR MY FATHER 
LEE MORGAN – THE SIDEWINDER 
JOHN COLTRANE – GIANT STEPS 
HANK MOBLEY – WORKOUT 
JOHN COLTRANE – MY FAVORITE THINGS 
JOHN COLTRANE – A LOVE SUPREME 
DEXTER GORDON – OUR MAN IN PARIS 
JOHN COLTRANE – SOULTRANE 
SONNY ROLLINS – SAXOPHONE COLOSSUS 
MILES DAVIS – BIRTH OF THE COOL 
SONNY ROLLINS – VOL.1 
CANNONBALL & COLTRANE 
JOE HENDERSON – SO NEAR, SO FAR 
MICHAEL BRECKER – TWO BLOCKS FROM THE EDGE 
YUSEF LATEEF – EASTERN SOUNDS 
EDDIE HARRIS – EDDIE WHO? 
CANNONBALL’S BOSSA NOVA 
ART PEPPER MEETS THE RHYTHM SECTION 
LOU DONALDSON – ALLIGATOR BOOGALOO 
JOE HENDERSON – DOUBLE RAINBOW 
PHAROAH SANDERS – CRESCENT WITH LOVE 
SONNY ROLLINS – PLUS 4 
CARMEN MCRAE – SINGS MONK 
MICHEL PETRUCCIANI – BOTH WORLDS 
THELONIOUS MONK – BRILLIANT CORNERS 
CHET BAKER – BROKEN WINGS 
SPHERE – FOUR IN ONE 
PHAROAH SANDERS – AFRICA 
JOHN COLTRANE – BALLADS 
MICHAEL BRECKER 
JOE HENDERSON SIXTET – THE KICKER 
JOHN COLTRANE & HANK MOBLEY – 2 TENORS
You might have wondered … “Hey, were is Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue in that list?” … have you?
1959 – THE YEAR THAT CHANGED JAZZ
Years ago I saw a BBC documentary called “1959, The year that changed Jazz“. In this docu they talk about four important Jazz albums made that year (1959). I had already two of those albums (“Kind of Blue” and “Time Out”) in my collection, and – after watching the docu – added the other two as well. 
Instead of writing all about these albums, I’d like to suggest you [ watch this documentary on youtube ]
MILES DAVIS – KIND OF BLUE 
DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET – TIME OUT 
ORNETTE COLEMAN – THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME 
CHARLES MINGUS – MINGUS AH UM
JAZZ WITH STRINGS
Absolute quality music for a romantic dinner … or just to “drift away” with in thoughts or (day)dreams …
CHARLIE PARKER WITH STRINGS 
ART PEPPER – WINTER MOON 
W. MARSALIS – HOT HOUSE FLOWERS 
C. HADEN – NOW IS THE TIME 
OGERMAN & BRECKER – CITYSCAPES 
CHARLIE HADEN – AMERICAN DREAMS
“AVANT-GARDE”, FREE-JAZZ, FREE-FUNK …
Not for the faint-hearted and close-minded.
ERIC DOLPHY – OUT TO LUNCH 
WAYNE SHORTER QUARTET – BEYOND THE SOUND BARRIER 
MILES DAVIS – BITCHES BREW 
MILES DAVIS – ON THE CORNER 
CHRIS POTTER – UNDERGROUND
CONCEPT ALBUMS
CANNONBALL ADDERLEY – LOVE, SEX AND THE ZODIAC 
NAT ADDERLEY – SOUL ZODIAC
The albums of Cannonball and Nat Adderley were inspired by The Zodiac. If you like to read more about the relationship between Astrology and Music, then read the article “Zodiac & Tonality (Music)“.
(SEMI) ELECTRIC JAZZ & GROOVE-BASED JAZZ
Albums with “groovy” music. From Jazzrock/Fusion, to Jazz-Funk and Crossover.
Jazz-purists might not call it Jazz … thank God I’m not a purist!
CANNONBALL ADDERLEY QUINTET – PYRAMID 
CHARLES ROUSE – TWO IS ONE 
HERBIE HANCOCK – HEADHUNTERS 
HERBIE HANCOCK – FUTURE 2 FUTURE 
JOSHUA REDMAN – ELASTIC 
CHICK COREA ELECTRIC BAND II – PAINT THE WORLD 
CHICK COREA & RETURN TO FOREVER – LIGHT AS A FEATHER 
RETURN OF THE BRECKER BROTHERS 
BRECKER BROTHERS – OUT OF THE LOOP 
JOHN SCOFIELD – HAND JIVE 
JOHN SCOFIELD – GROOVE ELATION! 
JOHN SCOFIELD – UP ALL NIGHT 
JOHN SCOFIELD – A GO GO 
MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD – COMBUSTICATION 
CHARLIE HUNTER QUARTET – READY … SET … SHANGO! 
CHARLIE HUNTER TRIO – BING, BING, BING! 
BOB BERG – SHORT STORIES 
LEE RITENOUR – LIVE IN L.A. 
JIMMY SMITH – ROOTS OF ACID JAZZ 
MACEO PARKER – ROOTS REVISITED 
DREAMLAND – YELLOWJACKETS 
DONNY MCCASLIN – FAST FUTURE 
THE CANNONBALL ADDERLEY QUINTET – INSIDE STRAIGHT 
EDDIE HARRIS – THE ELECTRIFYING EDDIE HARRIS 
BECK & SANBORN
(SEMI) ELECTRONIC JAZZ
Various (semi) electronic Jazz genres: Jazz-Hop, Nu-Jazz, Broken-Jazz, et cetera …
MILES DAVIS – DOO BOP 
MICHAL URBANIAK – URBANATOR 
MICHAL URBANIAK – URBANATOR 2 
SOEL – MEMENTO 
COURTNEY PINE – BACK IN THE DAY 
LAURENT DE WILDE – TIME 4 CHANGE 
NILS PETTER MOLVAER – KHMER 
STATE OF MONC – PHANTOM SPEAKER 
RONNY JORDAN & DJ KRUSH – BAD BROTHERS 
GURU’S JAZZMATAZZ
FOOT NOTES
Some “comments” about some of the albums listed in this blog.
KIND OF BLUE (MILES DAVIS)
The best selling Jazz album ever in Jazz history!
TIME OUT (DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET)
This album contains the best ever soled Jazz Single: “Take Five”. A Jazz album where the Quartet explores “non common time signatures” (5/4, 6/4, 9/8), something new to Jazz in those days. It might be interesting to know, that the 9/8 rhythm in “Blue Rondo à la Turk” is not a Turkish rhythm, but a rhythm commonly used in Bulgarian and Macedonian traditional folklore music.
THE SHAPE OF JAZZ TO COME (ORNETTE COLEMAN)
This album has been called the birth of “Free Jazz” by some.
MINGUS AH UM (CHARLES MINGUS)
Besides being a masterpiece, this album contains a clear fearless outspoken message about society, politics, and against racism.
SOMETHIN’ ELSE (CANNONBALL ADDERLEY & MILES DAVIS)
On this album you can hear what I find the prettiest version of Autumn Leaves.
FUTURE 2 FUTURE (HERBIE HANCOCK)
The live DVD is a must too!
